Moderator, stated clerk decline Gathering VI debate By John H. Adams The Layman Volume 34, Number 6 Posted October 5, 2001 Moderator Jack B. Rogers and Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have declined an invitation by the Presbyterian Coalition to engage in a debate with leaders of the Presbyterian Lay Committee. Expressing concern over the growing unrest in the denomination, the Sept. 5 letter of invitation from the Coalition’s co-moderators stated: “The recent General Assembly has taken several actions which are of grave concern to the whole church, actions which threaten to divide us. The Layman has publicly expressed its disagreement with the Assembly’s decisions on Christology, the authority of Scripture and ordination standards. ... The Coalition’s Board of Directors believes these matters are too important to the whole church to be limited to private correspondence between the officers of the General Assembly and the Lay Committee. We believe the whole church would benefit from listening to an open debate on the issues over which there is disagreement.” The Coalition offered to host the debate on the opening morning of its three-day Gathering VI at First Presbyterian Church in Orlando, Fla., on Oct. 1-3. More than 1,000 people are expected to attend the Gathering. Robert L. Howard, chairman of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, and Parker T. William-son, editor in chief of The Layman, accepted the invitation. Rogers and Kirkpatrick declined, saying they had other commitments. In a letter dated August 3, Rogers and Kirkpatrick challenged the directors of the Presbyterian Lay Committee to “reconsider your charge of apostasy” that was registered in a July editorial. Letter widely distributed Rogers and Kirkpatrick sent copies of their letter to the 568 people who were commissioners to the 2001 General Assembly and all middle governing bodies. The text of their letter was also published on the Web site of the Presbyterian Church (USA). However, at press time for The Layman, the PCUSA Web site had not published the response from the Presbyterian Lay Committee. Rogers and Kirkpatrick contended that 1) the directors of the Presbyterian Lay Committee did not have the authority to declare that the General Assembly actions were apostate and 2) that the decisions of the General Assembly did not warrant such harsh criticism. In their August 22 response, the Lay Committee directors reaffirmed The Layman’s assessment of the 213th General Assembly. Two GA decisions criticized The editorial viewed two decisions as apostate: 1) the unwillingness of the General Assembly to affirm that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life and to assert that there is salvation in no other name; and 2) the assembly’s call for ordination of practicing adulterers and homosexuals and the rejection of previous General Assembly guidance that declared homosexual activity sinful. The directors of the Lay Committee argued that the denomination’s confessions themselves require that “if men, under the name of a council, pretend to forge for us new articles of faith, or to make decisions contrary to the Word of God, then we must utterly deny them …” (Scots Confession, Chapter 20). After the Layman Online posted the full text of both letters and the editorial, scores of Presbyterians sent letters via e-mail. E-mail responses were running 15-1 in favor of the Lay Committee’s response.

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